A Baby Boomer and Beatle fanatic since their first appearance on Ed Sullivan back in 1964, this blog is dedicated to my thoughts on the Fab Four and Pop Culture

Tuesday, April 07, 2009

Number 9, Number 9, Number 9

On 09-09-09, Apple will release remastered versions of just about everything.You can read all about on the Beatles official site and in Beatle News (see links to your right). The packaging looks super and they're also including mini-documentaries on QuickTime files. Personally, I'd rather see new DVDs of Let it be and 'Magical Mystery Tour' (not to mention a CD Capitol Albums, Vol. 3), but I suppose redoing the 'official' canon is a priority and fans have been clamoring for it for years. And while these new 'stereo' versions will be fun, I'm actually more interested in the companion package: The 'mono' stuff. They are marketing this one for the more hardcore collector types. It will include newly mixed mono versions of everything up to the 'White Album' along with the previously unreleased original stereo versions of Help! and Rubber Soul. If that tidbit confuses you, I'll explain: The current CDs of those two albums are indeed in stereo, but were remixed by George Martin in 1987. Some fans consider the original 1965 stereo versions were superior.It's a bit overwhelming, all these versions. For Help! and Rubber Soul, I count at least ten versions:US vinyl stereoUS vinyl monoBritish vinyl stereoBritish vinyl monoThe 1987 CDCapitol Vol. 2 monoCapitol Vol. 2 stereoNew Remastered CDNew Remastered monoNew 1965 remastered stereo...and this doesn't include the cassette/8-track/reel-to-reel stuff! So, yeah yeah yeah, we're all excited about the remastered announcement, and of course I'll buy them. But the funny thing is, while CDs are great in the car, I'll probably do most of my Beatle listening the way I've always done it: Grabbing my vinyl Capitol/Apple record off the shelf, and plopping down the needle.

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About Me

In the "real" world, I work at a Bay Area dot.com job. But I'm also the bass player for the Portland punk band "The Cleavers" (we played our first gig in 1978, most recent one in 2004). I'm co-writer of a bunch of our songs and even "sing" a few on them.
And I was a founding member of another Portland group, "Theatre of Sheep" (circa 1980's).